News on latest book. Even if you are too tight to buy a book on Japanese foreclosed property, Japan is a fascinating place. One of the best places to learn about it, and how to live there is through the internet. A lot of forums have lost their patronage because of 'losers' posting nonsense content on them. JREF.com is one of the better ones. This is a post I made there on Japanese foreclosed property, so you can follow the discussion. When you first arrive in Japan you can get great advice on how to live there. e.g. The best phone to buy, where to buy duty free, where to get your computer fixed, etc.
Question by JonnyAndDeeDee:667952:
Question by JonnyAndDeeDee:667952:
"Lots of good information here! Thanks to all contributors..
I plan to buy foreclosed property in japan soon, and as this thread was first started a couple of years ago, I was wondering if somebody could tell me if the market is better or worse than it was 2 years ago. I know that the GFC has meant that property prices fell, but how are things now?
I plan to invest about 15million yen in several properties in and around the outskirts of Tokyo. Perhaps a ski lodge in Nagano or hakuba aswell. Do you think this is enough to get started in the business? I plan to research all properties properly, and I am skilled in all construction/maintenance work.
I have not yet purchased the ebook, but I plan to in the near future. Anybody willing to give a book review? Thanks for any replies in advance".
My reply:
Good for you. I think you will find the general property market is inclined recover from here because of inflationary pressures, i.e. In nominal terms, so that does not necessarily make it is a good investment. The yields do remain very attractive, so it makes sense to buy a place if you are living there a few years to avoid paying the high yield as rent. It does depend on where you buy. More important than location is the availability of property. I did not waste any time to buy because I was worried about the courts running out of stock. Its been 20 years since the property bubble broke, so I'd want to buy as soon as possible. You do have to ask yourself whether buyers 10-15yo who paid too much however are losing their jobs, will also be in financial trouble if the lose their job. From this point I think however banks are likely to recognise that the property market is going sideways, so they are less likely to rein in non-performing loans. Japan households are not over-leveraged, they are cashed up.The Japanese govt is still weak, so still no sign of a reform agenda. The prospect of a 2-house majority was just missed, so unless we see LDP MPs crossing the floor, we are probably not going to see change. I do not think you will see higher interest rates in Japan because of high public debt. More likely:
1. Inflation from printing money
2. Increase in GST - looks likely
3. Tax on property - my expectation
Disclosure: I wrote the report to which you are referring. Any review of my book might be outdated as I keep adding new sections. Reviews are little good anyway because they presume certain reader knowledge. Property is the most important asset you will buy in your life, so its not a good idea to be cheap on advise. It only takes one idea to save you heaps. In this last 3rd edition, I added a section on where to buy to avoid earthquakes, discussion of land leases, more on risk management, and I updated the economics section, as per usual. A few nagging grammatical/spelling mistakes too.
Most people who buy are Westerners with money, partner, investment bankers, investors and of course Westerners working in Japan, +/- Japanese partner. Some know Japanese, some don't. So pretty small market.
There are a number of good forums like JREF, Gaijinpot.com and Japan Forum. Japan Times is the best English newspaper, and there are a number of English free magazines like Metropolism which you can pick up in bars patronised by Westerners.
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